Ministry of Tribal Affairs
Union Ministers Shri Arjun Munda and Dr. Jitender Singh address National Conclave on Science & Technology for Empowerment of Tribal Community at IIT, Guwahati
The Conclave was organised to commemorate “Janjatiya Gaurav Divas’ observed on 15th November
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh says, Exclusive Technology Hubs being established for STs
Key Highlights:
- A special programme of DST launched for “Accelerated Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups”
- Department of Science and Technology  had established 10 “Science Technology and Innovation  Hubs” in different parts of the country for holistic development of Scheduled Tribe  Communities; 15 more such Hubs will be established in the next one year
- DST also supported a 50 Crore rupees R&D project to develop a permanent cure for Sickle Cell Disease  using gene editing technologies
To commemorate “Janjatiya Gaurav Divas’ to be observed on 15th November, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda and Union Minister of State  Science & Technology; Minister of State  Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today addressed National Conclave on Science & Technology for Empowerment of Tribal Community at IIT, Guwahati today.
Addressing on the occasion, Shri Arjun Munda said that Government of India under leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given special attention to integrated development of tribal people while keeping their identities alive. We are proud that Shri Narendra Modi is heading the largest democracy in the world today and tribal people have a critical role to play in our country. He further added that tribals must be included in the country’s journey of growth towards 2047 when India will achieve hundred years of Independence. It is indeed appreciable that Deptt of Science & Technology has taken steps in this direction by implementing projects involving innovations for development of tribals , Shri Arjun Munda said. This is appropriate since the tribals live close to nature and have intimate knowledge of environment, he said. Shri Arjun Muda explained that the tribals continuously innovate in their surroundings especially with respect to sustainability , but their innovation hardly finds acknowledgement. Under leadership of our Prime Minister, the time has now come for new achievements and deliverables and he hoped that the steps being taken by various departments of the Government will create new opportunities for tribals to grow, he added.
Dr Jitender said that DST had so far established 10 exclusive “Science Technology and Innovation  Hubs” in different parts of the country for holistic development of Scheduled Tribe  communities. 15 more such Hubs will be established in the next one year for inclusive socio-economic development through creation of sustainable livelihoods for the ST population in tune to their growing aspirations.
He said that 4 out of 10 such STI Hubs had been established in the Northeast, in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura to create sustainable livelihoods for the ST population of North-Eastern States.
On the occasion, a special programme of Department of Science & Technology  was launched for “Accelerated Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups” as a part of “Azadi ki Amrit Mahotsav”.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the theme of the conclave “Science and Technology Empowerment of Tribal Community” echoes the thoughts of Prime Minister’s Jai Vigyan-Jan Anusandhan. Vision. He said, this is the first time in the country, on such a large scale, the contribution of DST for empowerment of tribal communities in different walks of their life and livelihoods is being showcased and thanked the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and other organisations of the department and ASTEC for being a part of this conclave.
Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi, in November 2021 had declared 15 November as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas to remember the contribution of tribal freedom fighters, as part of the year-long celebration of the 75th anniversary of Indian independence. November 15 is the birthday of the great tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda, who is revered as Bhagwan by tribal communities across the country.
Dwelling on his Ministry’s measures for more focused attention on the integrated socio-economic development of the Tribal Community through various Schemes and Programmes, Dr Jitendra Singh said, about 100 new projects were supported during the last three years in diverse technology areas and these projects are expected to benefit more than 50,000 ST population in various regions of the country.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, DST had also supported a 50 Crore rupees R&D project to develop a permanent cure for Sickle Cell Disease  with extensive benefits of improving the standard of life of such patients using gene editing technologies. He also added that Heritage Food and Beverage Research Centre for research on Ethnic Foods of Tribals of NE and ST community Centre of Bio resources for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship has been established at Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology, Guwahati at a cost of Rs. 12 Crore.Listing out other series of measures for upliftment of Tribal communities, Dr Jitendra Singh said, DST has provided 700 fellowships to ST students and scholars to pursue a career in Science through INSPIRE fellowships in the last three years.